Smell and Taste Center

About

Welcome to the Vanderbilt Smell and Taste Center! Patients with smell and taste problems may have a wide variety of symptoms. Usually this includes a lack of (or reduction in) the ability to smell. Odor distortion is also possible, where things don't smell like they are supposed to, or sometimes people smell things that are not there.

Often, those with taste disorders have an underlying abnormality in the sense of smell, because that is the primary way we perceive flavor in food. This is very common.

At Vanderbilt we provide clinical evaluations for patients with these symptoms. This includes odor threshold testing, as well as screening for specific underlying medical conditions, which may be related to inflammatory or neurologic causes. Eligible patients may also want to participate in our ongoing clinical trials where we investigate causes for these disorders and explore the best ways of treatment.

In medical terminology, the sense of smell is also called olfaction while the sense of taste is known as gustation. More information about smell and taste disorders can be found here.

Loss of the sense of smell is common in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and has substantial impacts on patient safety and quality of life. This project focuses on pro-inflammatory cytokines with neurotoxic potential as possible causative factors in rhinosinusitis-associated olfactory loss. Analysis of human-derived olfactory tissue will help clarify mechanisms of inflammation-associated olfactory dysfunction, with the potential for identification of specific therapeutic targets.